Ten Things You Need to Know Today: Friday 26 Apr 2013

1. MPS: BAN 'DOUBLE AGENT' TAX ACCOUNTANTS

The Commons Public Accounts committee has called for a ban on tax accountants who work for the government being allowed to advise private clients at the same time, passing on their ‘insider’ knowledge of loopholes. Committee chair Margaret Hodge said the consultants were in a “ridiculous conflict of interest”.

Treasury accountants accused of helping rich to avoid tax

2. HUNDREDS MISSING AFTER DHAKA COLLAPSE

The search continues today for hundreds of people missing at the site of an eight-storey garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which collapsed on Wednesday morning. The confirmed death toll has now risen to at least 300 of the 2,000 workers who were inside. The owner, Sheikh Hasina, has gone into hiding.

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3. PM: SUAREZ SET 'APPALLING EXAMPLE'

Prime Minister David Cameron has accused Liverpool footballer Luis Suarez of setting an "appalling example" after he bit an opponent last week. Cameron made the comments in an interview this morning, a day after he had been accused of prejudicing the FA disciplinary panel by Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, who was angry over previous comments from the PM.

Liverpool furious as Cameron says Suarez bite was 'appalling'

4. BOSTON SUSPECTS TARGETED TIMES SQUARE

The brothers suspected of bombing the Boston marathon planned to detonate another six devices in New York’s Times Square, after hijacking a car after their first attack, surviving suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told police. The plan failed when they stopped for petrol and the driver managed to escape and warn police.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev moved from hospital to prison

5. US AND UK: SYRIA USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS

Syrian president Bashar al Assad’s troops seem to have used sarin gas “on a small scale” against opponents, the White House has said. The UK Foreign Office said the evidence was “limited, but persuasive”. Chemical weapon use has been suggested before as a “red line” to trigger military intervention in Syria.

US says Syrian regime has used chemical weapons twice

6. 'MASTER BOMB MAKER' JAILED FOR LIFE

A 'master bomb maker' trained by al-Qaeda, who planned a terror campaign on British soil that would have been more devastating than the 7 July, 2005 attacks on London, has been jailed for life. Irfan Naseer, 31, anticipated the bombing campaign - which involved eight nail bombs hidden in backpacks - would kill as many as 2000 people.

British 'master bomb maker' Irfan Naseer jailed for life

7. FIRE IN MOSCOW HOSPITAL KILLS ‘MANY’

At least 38 people have died after fire swept through a psychiatric hospital in the greater Moscow area, officials say. The fire at the No 14 hospital in Ramensky may have been caused by an electrical fault. It killed two members of staff - the rest of the victims were patients. The death toll is expected to rise.

Blaze at Russian mental hospital kills 38 people

8. COUNTRY STAR GEORGE JONES DIES

George Jones, the hard-living country singer with the baritone voice, has died at the age of 81. Jones recorded dozens of hits about good times and regrets and peaked with the heartbreaking classic He Stopped Loving Her Today. The singer died in a Nashville hospital after suffering from fever and irregular blood pressure, his publicist said.

9. MPS: UK FRACKING BONANZA ‘NOT ASSURED’

A House of Commons committee has warned that the economic benefits of shale gas extraction (fracking) in the UK are “not assured”. The process could help secure domestic energy supplies but may not bring down prices, the report says. There is also uncertainty of the UK’s geological suitability for the process.

10. HOT TICKET: DOWNEY JR. BACK AS IRON MAN

The latest film in Marvel’s superhero series, ‘Iron Man 3’, has opened in UK cinemas. Robert Downey Jr. stars as a wise-cracking industrialist who seeks revenge after his world is destroyed by a terrorist called the Mandarin. With Ben Kingsley and Gwyneth Paltrow. “Spectacular,” says The Guardian.

Whoo-hoo! Robert Downey Jr back in smart, fun Iron Man 3